The 30-year-old Nelson-born, Christchurch-raised, athlete is now based in Adelaide where she coaches wrestling.
The Paris Olympics from July 26 will cap off Ford's 20 years in the sport, which has previously taken her to three Commonwealth Games, where she won bronze models at both Glasgow 2014 and Birmingham 2022.
"It's a dream come true and it still feels pretty surreal at the moment," Ford said.
"I've always wanted to make the Olympics, and to become the first female wrestler from New Zealand to do so is pretty special.
"Back in Glasgow, I made history as the first New Zealand woman to win a Commonwealth Games medal in wrestling. It's always been a goal of mine to make history, it's part of what motivates me so it's pretty amazing."
She began wrestling when her father heard that women's wrestling had been added to the sport programme at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
"He wrestled in high school so he got back into it and I joined him," she said.
"We had a mat in the garage where we'd train and we had a video tape of wrestling at the Sydney Olympics which we'd just play constantly while we were training."
NZOC Nicki Nicol was delighted history would be made in Paris.
"I know a huge amount of work has gone in to get to this point and I'd like to congratulate Tayla for her perseverance, and for showing a generation of young New Zealand wrestlers what's possible when you put your mind to it," Nicol said.
The Olympic wrestling programme will be held from 5-11 August at the Champ-de-Mars Arena in Central Paris.
